The Waffle House Chronicles...

Friday, April 14, 2006

My next post will be live from Seattle (hopefully) so don’t go to my house and steal my stuff (the guy across the street is packin…) or anything. We are very excited to meet my niece, Anna and to see her parents and my parents and the Beav! I’ll be posting some photos of all the awesome food I eat (and probably some of Anna too) when I can. Our trip will consist of lots of family, some bike time, some food, some high-ass suspension bridge and some baseball.

Not much else to report, we get in late tonight, I pick up a bike to use tomorrow morning and all should be well! I hope you all don’t miss me too much in my absence.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Jerry says if you want to have a true mountain bike blog you have to talk about how hardcore you are. Well I have never really been “hardcore” before but my last two days have been definitely hardcore.

Tuesday I ended up riding a total of 90 miles, 32 at lunch and 58 after work. It was some good riding and I was holding my own until the end. Unfortunately I had a planned long ride on Wednesday so I went ahead and did it anyways.

I left work at about 2:15 to head west. A wind out of the northwest boded well for the ride. I got to Cottage Grove around 3 and started the Glacial Drumlin trail. This trail runs 52.2 miles to Waukesha. I got going at a pretty good clip and was doing well for the first 1:15 into the trail, my average speed was a good 19. I struggled the next hour or so and then rallied towards the end so that was good. I ended up just over 68 miles and got there at 6pm (in 3:45) for an average of 18.13. I chilled for 10 minutes at the end, took some photos. Like any good bike ride, there is food involved. I had to meet Jess and her mom at Taco Bell in Waukesha (she was in Milwaukee wedding dress shopping.) The estimated 3 miles to Taco Bell turned into 6 and mostly uphill so I ended with 74 miles and 18mph. Not a bad day of cycling.

Here is the unceremonious end to the trail (people in Waukesha call it the beginning though...)

Self portrait! :) The trail begins just over that lovely, clean river! Some people say it isn't about the destination, it is about the adventure to get there. Those people have clearly not been to Taco Bell before.
I ordered a token crunchwrap. I was to eat with Jess and her Mom after this so I had to limit myself. We went to the Water Street Brewery in Delafield. Had 4-5 glasses of water!Life is good, 74 miles and a crunchwrap! Sat at Taco Bell for about a half hour waiting and basking in the good ride and the sunshine. Needless to say the 12 other people eating there were sitting on the other half of the Bell. I prefer to think they didn't want to have sun in their eyes and nothing to do with my stink.

This is my training camp. I’ve rode 216 miles this week and am hoping (I don’t feel great) to ride another 32 or so today before flying to Seattle tomorrow. 1-2 more weeks like this and I’ll have a good base and build done and I’ll be ready for WORS and practice crits which start in early May.


Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Sad news...

Proof was awesome! He died this morning due to a gun-shot wound to the head. More... D12 is one of my favorite groups, the best thing going north of the ATL.

More baby photos, because it is my blog and it isn't always about the food! Plus as far as I know, no one reads my blog anyways (with the exception of some J.Bro action and a random weekly Jerry comment.) The guy in the photos is my brother (Larkin) and the girl is my sister-in-law Beth (BTBA.) The little girl is Anna. The stroller is not an InStep stroller.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Here's a photo of me and two guys who got dropped with me. We chased for a while before taking it easy and getting absorbed back into the pack. 4 laps and not one spoken word.

Tonight was the opening of Fudd! We got there about 5:30 and just beat the rush. When we sat down there was no where else to sit and the line went out the door. What a beautiful evening on State Street as well.
As for this location...it was excellent. The person working the register was not only overwhelmed by the amount of people, she was also a big idiot. She ended up overcharging me by $3.50, and on top of that she didn't know how to ring things up and it took her like 5 minutes. I asked for the receipt and I'll have to call to tell them how I got jobbed. Beyond that and the overwhelming crowd due to the nice day and it being the first day it was awesome. The food was excellent! The prices seemed a little more reasonable than I remember (had I been billed right.) The Fudd is definitely not a place to eat at every day or even that often, but I skimped on lunch and snacks and rode for almost two hours so the caloric hit shouldn't be that bad. I recommend the 1/2lb Southwest Burger and then going to the condiment bar and giving one pump of jalepeno cheese and loads of pico de gaillo. Also ask for ranch with the fries...superb! This is a small Fuddruckers (most average 9000sq ft but this one was 2900) and they didn't have the full menu but it has everything burgerwise that others have just not as many specialty items.

Not a great vegetarian place (unless you are a diehard chicken casesar salad lover) so Jess got fries and topped it off with some minty Cold Stone concoction.

Hope you all had a wonderful Monday evening as well.

Season debut…

Well it was quite the week and weekend with lots of ups and downs. Thursday I got in a nice and easy ride before the rain. Didn’t do much else. Friday was a day off, played some basketball and everything in the morning then took it easy. After work, Jess and I headed to the Benchwarmers movie, I really liked it and recommend it highly! It was funny had a reasonably ok storyline and did I mention it was hilarious? It just goes to show that if you put Reggie Jackson in a movie, it is awesome, no matter if OJ is in it or not. While leaving the movie, I turned my phone back on and noticed 3 missed calls. Never a good thing when all 3 are from the same numbers (Mom & Dad Cell) so I called them right away. Unfortunately the news was bad as my grandpa collapsed a few hours earlier and was rushed in for some emergency surgery. When I spoke with my mom at 6pm she basically said right now it looked about 50:50 for survival. His heart and lungs basically gave up at the same time and he has had a long history of heart trouble. Well it was a long evening to say the least. Jess and I went to Dotty’s (we will likely go there a lot less with the Fudd opening today) for a good meal and then came home and watched TV and waited. Finally I decided to get some sleep, but a restless half hour ensued until I got a call. My mom called back and said that he was doing ok, actually the best he could be considering the circumstances. They did an angiogram and were going to do an angioplasty but the heart stoppage wasn’t due to blockage, instead it was just a weak heart. They are installing (not sure on the correct term, maybe implanting would be better) a pace maker and some other thing (one of those things that they use to shock someone who’s heart stops.) His heart will probably only run about 30% as well now but if his heart stops or has a big flutter there will be machines in him to get him going. He said he has a lot of living to do and isn’t done being a grandpa or great grandpa. My grandpa is a fighter, he probably should have died a few times so far, so he should be up and at em again soon! Anyways, the phone call from my mom (and then the Beav) was a huge relief and I was able to sleep.

Saturday AM, 2-1/2 hours of basketball. Unfortunately when I got home are already ailing boxer was feeling worse and worse. So no bike ride, instead a $150 swing to the vets office with pee sample in hand. They weren’t able to pinpoint what was wrong, only able to eliminate the two bad things it could be so that is good. We got some antibiotics but I am not sure they are helping. I have until tomorrow to determine if they work or not. Anyways, I got home and new we were going to babysit Jess’ boss’ son (who is 4) in a few hours and Jess was off wedding dress shopping with her mom. So I went on a huge cleaning binge and our whole top floor (except for a couple rooms) are immaculate! Dusting, mopping, vacuuming, organizing, sweeping, etc, no stone was left unturned. Not sure how long it will last but at one point our house was mostly clean. Babysitting was fun, just hung out at the park most of the time since he was only with us for a couple of house. Saturday night=dodgeball! We played well and had a great time. We finished mid-pack to get us a probable 6th place final standing (top 5 = money though.) It was a fun season. We also (since the tourney was at Pooleys) got to watch the hockey game! UW=National Champions. My friend pointed out that this is 3 for the academic year for UW (Cross Country and Women’s Hockey being the other two.)

Sunday I woke up kind of sore and was debating crit racing or not. I read the paper and watched a movie and a half and cleaned my bike. At 11am I told Jess I was going to race so we went down there (about 3 miles) and got ready. Unfortunately I got in line to sign up at 11:20 and it wasn’t until noon when I was registered. Fortunately for me, the racing was a half hour behind. I got in a brief warm-up and we were off. My racing tactics were poor. I was 4th to last in the first corner, by the second corner I was in 1st with about a 15 yard lead. I spent the next lap fading to the back of the pack again, when I decided I want to be up front after almost getting taken out by another rider I kind of know. I hustled back up towards the front held it for a half of a lap and back to the back again. I tried it a third time but then the pace sped up for a couple laps as people were getting ansy. Finally about lap 5 or 6 I was cooked and on the tailwind hill I got dropped. Myself and two other riders got together and just rode for a while. Finally it appeared that the ref was going to let us get back in the race (yippee!) so I idled on the back side of the course and waited for the pack. I felt infinitely better and had no problem hanging in this time as the pack got shredded down to about 30 riders. We rode around a couple more laps and I see Jerry attack. I desperately wanted to help and Kelson and I tried to get to the front. Kelson though never made it, and in turn I never made it either (I couldn’t do it myself and Kelson tried to get us both up there.) Jerry got caught with about a lap and a half to go. I see Hertz at the front but at this point I just wanted to finish with the group as I didn’t think I could help much with a sprint even if I could get up there. So I sat it and took it easy until the final corner and got up to 21st position by the line. Jerry sprinted and got nipped by 3 people for 5th place (he was probably 3 inches from 3rd place and maybe another foot to 2nd. Hertz got 11th place after trashing a rear wheel in the sprint. I was happy, of course I wish I didn’t have to lose a lap early but I feel that with a little better pre-race and more strategy I could’ve been a player, so I’ve learned for next time. I also am not sure about my place, I know back in the day I looked up the rules (1994) and a single or a small group of riders could be lapped once without penalty and still be eligible for a sprint but couldn’t help with breakaways or anything. It doesn’t really matter, next time I’ll just have to do better and stick it out. We stayed and watched the next race, where Jerry raced again (it’s for old men…you know those that are 7 or more days older than me) and he got 4th (couldn’t have been more than 2” from 2nd, guh) in a huge field (had to be 80 riders big.) I then went home, hot tubbed, napped, went to JT Whitneys for dinner and then watched some TV and some video footage that Jess shot of the race.

Now it is Fuddruckers Monday! 5:30-6 is the estimated arrival time. Of course on Fudd’s big day I find out about a possible legend in the making at TGI Fridays. From 1993-1998 Fridays was my favorite restaurant. They’ve went way downhill since, changing the things I like and going all Atkins. Can this win me back?

Nascar Update: Retired Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell is ready to go truckin: After racing late-model stock cars in Lakeland, Fl, for a number of years and a handful of starts in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup series, Greenwell will likely make his debut in the Truck series May 27 at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway in Ohio. Greenwell, who started racing stock cars in 1999 in Florida, will compete in three other events for Green Light Racing, Inc., after its driver, Bobby Hamilton Jr., left to substitute for his father, 2004 Truck champion Bobby Hamilton, who is battling cancer. Greenwell will race at Memphis Motorsports Park, July 15; Indianapolis Raceway Park, Aug. 4, and in the Sylvania 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway, Sept. 16. Greenwell, who played 12 seasons for the Red Sox, will test at a short-track in North Carolina early in May and again at Mansfield before attempting to make the field for the Mansfield 250.